• Leaders and residents from the region have now said they will not vacate from Chepkitale Forest because it is their ancestral home.
• They have now pleaded with the government to halt the looming evictions until they are given alternative land and titles.
The looming eviction of the minority Ogiek and Ndorobo communities from Chepkitale Forest in Mt Elgon region has taken a fresh twist after leaders asked the government to find alternative land for resettling the locals.
Leaders and residents from the region, who have held regular demonstrations against the eviction, had said they will not vacate because it is their ancestral home. The area is part of the five water towers in the country.
But in what appears as a change of tune, they have now pleaded with the government to halt the looming evictions until they are given alternative land and titles, saying it is their constitutional right to live in any part of the country.
Led by former Mt Elgon MP aspirant Moss Ndiema, the leaders and residents petitioned the government to withdraw a sponsored petition seeking to gazette Chepkitale Forest, which is majorly occupied by the Ogiek and the Ndorobo.
“All we want is to ask the government, through the concerned State agencies and ministries, to call off plans to evict us from Chepkitale, which we believe is our ancestral home until it finds an alternative settlement land. We have people who missed out on allocations in the last phase of allocations by the government in both phases 1,2 and 3,” Ndiema said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Petition by the Executive signed by the Cabinet secretaries of Environment and Lands regarding the variation of the boundary of Mt Elgon Reserve seeks to ensure the exclusion of the controversial Chepyuk phase two and phase three that is 4607 hectares.
Ndiema has also appealed to the locals to refrain from any incitement remarks that are likely to spark off chaos in the region, urging them to keep off leaders with selfish political interest.
“It is unfortunate that we have leaders who want to capitalize on this issue to get political mileage. But all we want now is for our people to be given alternative places for resettlement instead of these empty political rhetoric,” Ndiema said.
Last month, MPs approved the variation of Mt Elgon Forest boundaries to exclude Chepyuk phases 2 and 3.
According to the recommendations of the joint National Assembly Committee on Land and Environment, the government should properly secure the remaining forest area within Mt Elgon Forest reserve, particularly Chepkitale, considering the need to achieve the United Nations recommended 10 per cent forest cover in the country.
But the group maintained that Chepyuk is a settlement scheme for all deserving Kenyans, adding that they have lived in the forest since 1919.
They also say that they have been conserving the forest by planting crops, beekeeping and as a grazing field for their animals.
MP Fred Kapondi has since exonerated himself from claims he was behind the move after residents accused him of spearheading the initiative to allegedly advance his political career ahead of2022.
The lawmaker said the government had put in place a lot of resources to ensure the people of Chepkitale are resettled effectively in Chepyuk.
The joint committee report was informed by their visit to Mt Elgon, where they interviewed residents and held public meetings.
The second recommendation was that the government moves to secure Chepkitale for conservation.